Parallel-liner.



R. L. GOOLEY.

PARALLEL LINER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1913.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT L- COOLEY, 0F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

PARALLEL-LINER.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT L. CooLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Parallel- Iiiners, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to devices for making parallel chalk lines as guides for writing or printing on blackboards or the like, especially for instruction in reading, spelling, penmanship, music, mathematics and the like. Its main objects are to facilitate simultaneously drawing with chalk two or more parallel lines; to admit of using pieces of chalk of small size and of different sizes; to avoid breaking the chalk; to insure continuity and substantial uniformity of the lines on uneven surfaces; and generally to simplify and improve the construction and operation of devices of this class.

It consists essentially in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts as hereinafter particularly described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing like characters designate the same parts in the several figures.

Figure 1 is a plan View of a parallel liner embodying the invention, showing pieces of chalk of different sizes inserted in three of the holders; Fig. 2 is a section of the liner on the line 2-2, Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2, of one of the holders with a piece of chalk inserted therein.

The device comprises a head a, which serves as a handle, and a munber of flexible holders 6, made of looped spring wire attached at the ends to one edge of the head transversely thereto and substantially parallel with one another. The head a, which may be conveniently made of wood, is comparatively broad and thin, and is preferably rounded on its opposite edges or narrow sides so that it can be conveniently grasped and held between the thumb and fingers. Each chalk holder Z) is made of a single piece of spring wire inserted and held at the ends in parallel holes bored in one of the edges or narrower sides of the head a. It is formed with three U-shaped loops or return bends o and (Z, into four approximately parallel and equidistant limbs e and f,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 27, 1918.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914. Serial No. 776,004.

adapted to grasp and hold crayons or pieces of chalk of different sizes, inserted lengthwise between them. The limbs f are considerably longer than the limbs e, and form flexible shanks for connecting the holders with the head a, the shanks being freely flexible in planes perpendicular to the broad sides of the head, and comparatively inflexible or stiff in a plane parallel with the broad sides of the head, so as to permit the crayons or pieces of chalk carried by the holders to yield outwardly independently of one another and adapt themselves to uneven surfaces and at the same time to hold them firmly predetermined distances apart.

The outwardly bent loops 0 connecting the shorter limbs c with the longer limbs f of the holders at their free ends, form bellshaped or flaring mouths to receive the crayons or pieces of chalk which are designoted 9 on the drawing.

The upwardly or outwardly bent loops d connect the shorter limbs e at the ends opposite the loops c, the four limbs of each holder being preferably made to converge slightly toward its free end, so that when a crayon or piece of chank is inserted therein it will be grasped and held firmly in place and the holder will readily adapt itself to crayons or pieces of chalk of different diameters or thicknesses.

As shown in Fig. 1, the crayons or pieces of chalk of different lengths are inserted in the holders greater or less distances so as to project from their free ends approximately the same distance, and are adjusted lengthwise therein as they are worn away or broken off.

The liner as shown is provided with five holders for drawing the lines of a musical staff, but may obviously be used to draw two, three or four lines equally or unequally spaced, by inserting chalk in more or less of the holders according to the numher and spacing of the lines desired.

In the operation of the liner the head a is grasped between the thumb and fingers of either hand and held lengthwise approximately parallel and transversely in a plane oblique to the board, and is drawn laterally across or over the same, the ends of the crayons or pieces of chalk protruding from the holders being held with sufficient pressure against the board to insure their all marking, the flexibility or resiliency of the shanks f of the holders permitting the crayons or pieces of chalk to yield outwardly independently of one another and thus adapt themselves to inequalities in the surface of the board, thereby avoiding interruptions or breaks in the lines.

Various modificationsin the minor details of construction of the device may be made Without materially affecting its operation or departing from the principle of the invention as defined in the following claims.

I claimi 1. A parallellin'er comprising a head and a number of chalk holders secured at one end to said head transversely thereto and eaeh consisting of a loop-ed spring Wire having four approximately parallel outwarm yieldable limbs.

2 parallel, liner comprising a head and a number of flexible chalk holders consisting' of looped spring Wires inserted and secured at their ends in the head transversely thereto and parallel With one another, the Wire of each holder having two shorter. and two longer approximately parallel limbs joined by loops or return bends.

other holders, the loops being bent out- Wardly to permit the four opposing limbs of the holder to grasp a piece of chalk inserted therein lengthwise.

In Witness whereof I hereto aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ROBERT L. GOOLEY. Witnesses CHAS. L. Gross, FRANK E. BENNETT.

Oopies of this patent may be obtained for fiv cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

